


On The Open Waves

by Ruunkur



Series: Rise from Ash [4]
Category: Homestuck
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-07-31
Updated: 2017-07-31
Packaged: 2018-12-09 01:41:37
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,317
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11658963
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ruunkur/pseuds/Ruunkur
Summary: Eridan runs after a stray ship, only to have an unexpected surprise.





	On The Open Waves

**Author's Note:**

> This takes place 700 sweeps after Rising From the Ashes

You stand at the bow of your ship, gaze sweeping the ocean. It's early evening and your jadeblood first mate nods at you before she ducks inside a small cabin, typically spending her waking hours on deck and under the Alternian sun. You don't envy her position but you do appreciate her position, being able to hold the ship down on her own. She had come to you from the breeding caverns with a note from The Caregiver and had seemed thrilled about the sea every day since.

You glance her way before walking over to her cabin door, knocking on the wood. "Windsong, do ya have a moment?" You ask. There were things to be done that night and you pity her the night's rest. But rest was best left to the old and dead, in your book. It was earned, time and again, and could be collected upon retiring from whatever she ended up doing. Now, there was work to be done.

"Of course Magician," she says with a small nod of her head when she opens the door. She's young, only twenty sweeps in total. And that makes you feel nearly ancient, but you still had sweeps left to span. And you would make use of every single second. Even if the use was staring out into the oceans and contemplating what exactly you were thinking when you were younger.

"How were the winds this past day?" You ask, shifting your weight. You can hear the other crew members get up, several already in position while several others took their sweet time getting up. You would remind them later that if the ship was on duty, they would not have the time to procrastinate. You were growing soft the more you lived and the thought makes you chuckle.

"They were steady," she says with a smile, her horns nearly grazing the doorframe. "The ship that we have been watching is going further out to sea. It seems like they are searching for something, though what it is, I cannot say. The movement is erratic and they seem to throw caution to the wind during the day. I thought I saw a figure darting around the ship in solar protective gear near mid day."

"There were rumors of a lusus that raised the fuchsia bloods this far out ta sea." You say, almost able to recall the memories of Feferi's lusus with a sort of fondness. "If the lusus was not kept fed or if there were more than one adult fuscia, the lusus would sing a song known as the vast glub that would wipe out the troll race violet and under. This ensured that the empress and her descendent always faced to fight and cull each other. Perhaps they are searchin' for the legendary lusus. It would be a terrible thing ta look upon, all tentacles and a beak for eating food, always demanding more and more lusii as it grew bigger."

"Geez, I didn't realize you were still listening to tales told for wrigglers. Do you have an interest in such things? I still remember most of what my guardian taught me." The Wingsong said, dipping her head to hide her grin before she returned to her serious state. "The ship flies cerulean flags. We were close enough at one point for me to make out the color,"

"Did ya get a look at the symbol?" You ask, raising an eyebrow. "And those tales are more than just for wrigglers. They hold a kernel of truth. They spin a tale of caution out on the deep seas. Did you have no seadweller friends who passed those tales around when you were a wriggler?" They held more truth than you ever wanted to remember as you grew older.

"I may have had a few," Wingsong said after a moment of thought. "But they always put it down to mere myth. Surely the Benevolent would never let such a lusus live under her reign. And from the rumors I'm hearing, lusii in the inner cities and amongst the capitals are falling out of favor, due to the new laws of trolls raising wrigglers. Not for lack of lusii though."

"That much is true. And the lusus would have been before her reign. She would have been raised by this monster lusus. That was in the time that the previous empress made all adult trolls go up to space." you say with a nod. One of the policies that you disagreed with Feferi on in several points. Karkat often threatened to destroy the policy altogether if you and she could not come to some sort of agreement. And thus, you had left to hunt down a pirate ship. That had been the break you needed after endless arguments with Feferi and going around in circles. Growing up with a lusus was a worthy challenge of any troll. And now you were chasing pirate ships though with the color of the flags... You blink as Windsong snaps her fingers in front of your face.

"Captian, if you want to argue with the empress regarding her policies, glaring a hole into the wood will do you no good. And remember, I was personally raised by a jadeblood, none of the lusii would have taken me otherwise." She says gently and you roll your eyes. You know they would have simply left her to perish for the smallest mutation, if the grub could not survive on its own. You preferred having your first mate on the ship to being dead as a grub. "To answer your other question, there did not seem to be a symbol I could see. Perhaps several of our better views will see it." And there is the joke, no one on the ship saw better than her, despite having one eye completely white.

"The empress and I disagree on a lot of things 'Song. There may be benefits in trolls raising the young, but there is also benefits in being raised by a lusus. Back in my day, wrigglers feared the adults and when it came ta ascension, you hoped your friends got through. And you hoped the adults running the thing did not find you useless. The ship was running during the day," you point out, leaving your own tangled thoughts to the side. "They have someone who is dedicated to run around in solar protection and run the ship. Or..."

"Or know that their aimless drifting may confuse someone on their tail." Windsong replied with a grin. "Which means they know we're coming, right?" And you see a fierceness in her eyes that reminds you of Kanaya.

"Captain! First Mate!" A crew member shouts and you turn to look at the olive blooded troll with a raised eyebrow. He opens his mouth to say something else, eyes wide before he finds his tongue. You don't remember him from when you originally set out from the capital. You would question Windsong later. "The ship has changed course, it's coming directly for us sir." He scampers off after delivering the message and something about him seems familiar.

"Well, isn't that somefin," you say idly, catching the glance Windsong throws you. "You spend most of your sweeps with the empress and her fishy ways tend to run off on ya 'Song," you comment, scratching at a fin in thought. "Bring us towards the ship; make the canons ready. Don't let the other ship know that you're preparin' ta fight. Just do it." You say and Windsong chuckles as the crew member runs off. "Who was that? I don't recall him being with us when we left the capital."

"New member," she says. "He joined two ports ago in Certrel. Can't quite believe that the Empress's general runs around chasing pirate ships. He was willing to talk to me from the shadows during the day, though rather jumpy."

"Who sent him?" You ask, turning back to the ship. Windsong follows, shaking her head.

"He said that The Huntress sent him." Windsong replied. "He's eleven sweeps. Seems like a good head. Can't deny them if a friend sends them."

"Oh, you know the Huntress?" You ask, striding to the edge of the ship and looking across the waves. You can see the blue flags snapping in the wind and you pull Ahab's Crosshairs off of your back thoughtfully. "Tell me, you ever see what a plasma gun can do to a ship?"

"No, I don't know the Huntress. I thought you two knew each other?" Windsong inquired. "And not to my knowledge. What are you going to do?" She asks, eyes wide in excitement.

"Remind me to send The Caregiver a fruit basket for sendin' you my way on her next wigglin' day," you comment, aiming the gun at the ship. It's too far for most weapons to make it but you nudge the power up on the rifle just a tad, changing the direction to one of the flags.

"Of course, but what does she have to do with this?" Windsong asks, her gaze trained on the ship.

"She sent a jadeblood with a sense of adventure." You say simply, firing the gun and watching it strike the flag true. You hold it up, watching the others scramble up on deck, waving your other hand for them to hold fire. "All these flags make great target practice, don't you agree Windsong?"

"Yes, they do." She muses as you take aim at the next flag, watching it strike true as well. You could imagine the owner of the ship cursing up a storm. You wave your hand to draw your ship closer, putting the gun back on your back for now. No need to take out all of the target practice at once.

"Did you know that The Huntress's matesprit is a well known pirate, that also doubles as the head of the current trade and commerce? She does the piratin' in her spare time, and often keeps quiet enough that the empress can't complain. I went out because I was curious how she does it. This isn't actually a sanctified mission from the Empress. The Affluent is pretty crafty in her web, but I want to poke some holes in it because I am bored. Simply no more, simply no less." You explain, watching the ships draw closer. "No one is to kill in the upcoming battle! Knock out and leave the captain to me! Understood?"

You wait for the chorus of yes's to come back from your crew before you let them move into action. No killing, otherwise Feferi would just sit you down and talk at you like you were five sweeps old. Not a sanctioned mission, terrible waste of supplies. But with your kismesis and matesprit both wrapped up in their current projects, you were bored and had set out to sea to look at rumors yourself.

It's a swift battle and you can see that the crew on deck was mostly new hands on the ship. Several quickly throwing down their weapons when your crew boarded. Several violet bloods had jumped ship when the gun had gone off and several of the braver blue bloods had followed after them. You walk across the ship, gun over your back as you see the captain, her hair tied back loosely.

"Hey, stand down," you say lazily. Your crew back away from the angry troll and her eyes find you.

"I should have known," she grumbles, turning to face you. "Eriiiiiiiidan, how is your matesprit? I haven't seen him in ages it feels like."

"He's just fine. And probably better off not being in your presence." you say. "Vriska, still being a pest as always. Shoulda known it was you."

"Hey, at least I'm not the short leash." She snickers and you resist the urge to groan.

"You know this section of water is off limits unless you have the proper paperwork. And seeing as I oversee that paperwork, I know that you don't have it. What are you doing here?" You ask, the truth more convenient than trying to lie to Vriska.

"I'll answer those questions if we can do them in private." Vriska suggests, waggling her eyebrows at you. You lose the urge to roll your eyes and nod, directing your men to go back to ship and hold tight. You nod at Windsong, the jadeblood having followed out of curiosity. "Is this the grub Kanaya was always fussing over sweeps back?" She asks, turning to look at Windsong. "My, what a lovely young troll she is."

"That would be the one. Hey 'Song, you're in charge. Take the ships back to port."

"And you Magician?" She asks.

"I'll make sure The Affluent plays nice. What's the olive blood's name that The Huntress sent?" You ask, wondering when your mind stopped remembering small details. No wait, it was there underneath the conversation.

"The Pridecat is the name he gave me." She says and you give her a nod of thanks, glad that you remembered.

"Oh, shit." Vriska says and you glance at her with a raised eyebrow. "Whaaaaaaaat is the Pridecat doing on your ship? He was supposed to meet up with my crew in Certrel. Ah fuck, he got confused, didn't he?"

"Looks like he did, or you gave him the wrong dates." You say. "Keep an eye on Pridecat. I swear, wrigglers' names are getting more and more ridiculous with each brood."

"Says the troll who named himself The Magician." Vriska points out.

"Coming from someone named The Affluent." You shoot back.

"Point taken, we can keep this up. Hey Windsong is it? You looking for a new ship? It seems like my first mate jumped when the Magician shot at the flags." Vriska asks, too eager as she looks the troll up and down. "I'm sure you would fit in well with my crew."

"No thank you," the Windsong says and nods at you before walking to the edge of the ship and using a plank to return.

"So who's the Pridecat?" You ask.

"He's the wriggler Nepeta raised." Vriska says, already heading to her office block. "Something about a shared sign.... Anyway, you want to know what I'm doing out here? I want to know what happened to Feferi's lusus."

"We culled her," you say finally as Vriska unlocks the door. None of your group had talked about the lusus in a long time. You had nearly forgotten that you never even told the others what had happened. Feferi had been distressed by the end of it.

She stops, turning to look at you in surprise. "How? Feferi sent me a picture of that thing once. It was massive as fuck."

"A lot of poisoned lusii. It finished culling her about...half a sweep before we overtook the Condesce. Fef had the area closed off in case any of the poison still lingered. There's a giant glass case that held the lusus's body for when she did die. Didn't understand what she was after at first..." You clear your throat, looking around the office when you were invited in.

"But with the lusus dead, she wouldn't have to fight her descendents." Vriska says, sitting down and propping her elbows on the desk, leaning forward. "She really did plan well in advance, didn't she?"

"Yes, she did." You agree, taking a chair and leaning back. "I didn't see you at the last meetin', where were you?"

"Oh, I was here and there." Vriska waves her hand as she speaks, eyes on you. "To be honest, I was cleaning up a mess of someone trying to break into the trading systems. You sent me the reports on it? Now, I can't have other pirates taking up my business, can I? You should know,"

"Ah, you were the reason I stopped receivin' complaints about pirates attacking trading vessels. I had wondered about that. I wanted to talk to you about it in the last meetin', but you were already taking care of it? Which..." You comment.

"Didn't you send me the reports and ask me to take care of them?" Vriska asks, pulling up a husktop and typing into it. "I even told you I would take care of it, but I would be unable to attend the meetings. Here," she grins, "this is the log you sent me half a sweep ago! I think you're losing your mind Eridan."

\---caligulasAquarium began trolling arachnidsGrip---

CA: hey vris theres an issue i need you to look into  
AG: what kiiiiiiiind of issue eridan?  
AG: you interrupted my flushed d8  
CA: theres a pirate ship attackin tradin vessels  
CA: can you take care of it or not  
AG: geeeeeeeez youre pushy tonight 8ut yeah  
AG: for a price of course :::;)  
CA: ill pay it  
CA: attached are the documents  
CA: have it done soon  
AG: i'll have to miss feferi's meeting for this  
AG: will you tell her?  
CA: Of course

\---caligulasAquarium ceased trolling arachnidsGrip---

"I'm pretty sure that wasn't me," you say as you look through your own message log and show here the last conversation between you two four perigees ago. It had been her gripping about missing her matesprit and you commenting she was welcome to message Nep instead of you.

"Strange, but the problem is taken care of." She says and smirks. "And now you owe me, cause it's your handle. Can anyone take your handle and use it to message others?"

"No, Sol has that on lockdown. He decided that if just anyone got to hack me, it would be no fun. And he wouldn't hack someone to interfere with their work." You point out. "He hates those meetings as much as you do, so he wouldn't have done it to get you out of it. Not without being able to get himself out of it."

"Strange, well the problem is taken care of." She says. "And now I have another matter I want to attend to. See, Nepeta wants me to teach Pridecat the beautiful life of being a crewmate on a ship. But I can't take on any more crew members... Would you be able to keep him?"

"You're going to dump your matesprit's grub on me?" You ask with a sigh. "And didn't half your crew just jump ship?"

"She found him lost and with a dead lusus. Thought it was a great idea to raise him when she saw they shared a sign. I'm of the mind that if we do have grubs that share our sign, we're going to outlive them thanks to Feferi. I... Don't know if I can get attached to a grub just to have them pass long before I do." Vriska admits and you see her shoulder slump, her eyes distant.

"Is the great Affluent showing emotions?" You ask, voice dry. "If I do this, does this mean I get to dump a grub on you later?"

"No, I'm not a grub sitting business." Vriska sniffs.

"Neither am I," you point out. "Gam likes to grubsit. I can dump Pridecat off on him I suppose...."

"No wriggler needs to be raised on face paint and faygo." Vriska sniffs. "Look, if Nepeta is correct..."

"The grub is pawsibly yours?" You say with a grin as Vriska rolls her eyes but you see her smile at the pun. "But, I do want the actual reason you are in the area Vris. If you corrected a problem, you could have messaged me and gave me an update."

"You're right. Maybe I was wondering if there was a cave out here my ancestor visited." Vriska says finally. "Nepeta found the ones that the Disciple spent the rest of her days in. I thought it was an interesting idea. But, I was also curious about the legends. It's been seven hundred sweeps Eridan. And they made Feferi's lusus into a monster for daymares. Doesn't that...strike you as odd?"

"It was a terror when it was alive." You point out. "You know it was Gam's lusus that finally killed the thing?"

"Shit, you're the reason Seagoat dad died?" Vriska asks, impressed. "I remember Gamzee being upset by his death, but he never said who killed the goat. I had to deal with soooooooo many of his messages it gave me a panache trying to read it."

"Yeah, well....he knew exactly the same day that Seagoat dad was culled." You say. "Found the goat in the shallow waters. Never thought it could have been a friend's lusus. Gamzee was upset, thought he was gonna cull me then and there. But he ended up just sighin' and restin' a hand on Seagoat Dad's head before he says for me to do what I have to do."

"Did you know who he was at the time?" Vriska asks, leaning forward even more. "Damn, we would have eventually made decent kismesis, don't you think?"

"No, not until after the goat was dead. If I had known, I wouldn't have culled the lusus. Gam was a good friend, even at the time. And he doesn't harbor any negative emotions towards the goat dying," you say and she throws her head back with a cackle. "And I don't need ta be repeatin' my ancestor's steps with no Serket."

"Woooooooow Eridan, I'm hurt." Vriska sniffs and you simply groan. "And I suppose there is some good in you. That's strange to say though, how dare you make me say that you're good. Eridan Ampora is a terrible troll, that feels better."

"I will tell Fef to let Aradia know that you're passin' on some strong black pushes. Both of them ought to be pissed. Besides, if the pissblood kicks the bucket first, I think Fef may actually try and lay a claim." You cross your arms, sitting up in the chair when Ahab's Crosshairs begins to dig in uncomfortably. The safety is on, you aren't currently worried about accidentally setting it off.

"I'm surprised she hasn't given up yet." Vriska comments. "She still wants to take you black? Karkat really has his work cut out for him then..."

"Yes, but we let this conversation drift far from the point of interest." You say, adjusting in your chair once more. "Why are you in the area?"

"I was....looking for a sense of adventure I guess. I'm bored, there's nothing to do but run my business, which runs pretty well on its own. I...I miss the fighting of the younger sweeps. A troll cooped up for so long... And I miss Terezi, and Nepeta." Vriska sighs. "I'm yearning for my younger years Ampora. Gods, I sound old and boring. I'm not old and boring. I'm young and full of adventure. And I just want to do something fun again. Don't you remember how much more fun this was when we weren't bogged down with bureaucracy shit? The stuffy highblood that fancy themselves nobles are just so booooooooring and... Damn it, I don't know." The troll sinks her head onto the desk and you think for a moment before you speak again.

"I, as head of the Military of Alternia, The Magician hereby takes your ship and if you don't get your skinny blue ass off of it to see your matesprit and moirail, I will have you thrown in a cellblock." You say, standing up to your full height. "Go pick a fight with your kismesis while you're at it. You are not allowed to return to sea or job for a full two perigees. If I see you return any sooner, I will have you striped of your sea faring privilages."

"You can't-" Vriska protests and you lean across the table with a smirk.

"I think I just did Serket. You're to be off the ship in fifteen minutes and I can give you a small boat. Take Pridecat with you. I'm guessin' that's where the fallout between you and Nep happened. You kept puttin' her off?"

"Geez Eridan, you really know how to pick them. Can I ask that your pretty first mate leads my ship while I'm off?" Vriska asks. "And yeah, that was the start of it."

"Only if she wants. And maybe you should take in a grub while you're at it. It might give you a sense of adventure, keeping up with a young troll." You say and whisk yourself from the office room, snapping orders at what remainders of Vriska's crew. You see her come out and cross the plank to your own ship before you follow. 

"Windsong, Pridecat!" You bellow upon having your feet land on your deck. You keep a close eye on Vriska as she stands, taking in your ship. She's looking over the ship, impressed with it but trying to hid it. The two called trolls appear quickly and you nod at Windsong. "Sorry to keep you up all day and then for more than half the night. Take over The Affluent's ship for her while she and Pridecat go to Certrel for a couple of perigees. They get a small boat and supplies. We shall set course to return to the capital today."

"Can't you just drop us off at Certrel? Vriska demands, hands on her hips. "That's along the way to the capital!"

"You were the one that said you wanted adventure. You're welcome to it." You grin and see Vriska and Pridecat off shortly after, Vriska complaining the whole while but flashing you a smile before she's out of sight. You get the crews into shape, a quarter of your crew on Vriska's ship and set off once more, planning on outfitting Vriska's ship with a couple of surprises before she returns from visiting Nepeta and Terezi. You plan on dragging Sollux out of his work block when you get the capital, a hatedate long overdue.


End file.
